1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image information management system and method which store images before and after a trigger with key information associated with the images and search the stored image based on the key information.
2. Description of the Related Art
A digital image can be recorded for a long time at present owing to expansion of storage capacity and price reduction of an apparatus. However, if all the events are recorded, when a desired image lasts only for a short time in the long-time image, the required information should be searched in the vast volume of information. In this case, there is a problem that time for searching necessary information becomes long. Then, an art to record only a required image and search a desired image in recorded images in a short time is in demand.
As a method of storing a required image, such an art is proposed that when a trigger occurs, an image before and after the occurrence of the trigger is recorded. For example, in Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2005-165805, an art is disclosed that by storing images before and after a collision using a sudden speed change at the collision as a trigger, a situation at occurrence of the accident is recorded. However, Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2005-165805 discloses an art to store a required image but does not describe an art to search and take out a desired image from the stored images.